Bump.
Also, where are the previews from the experts??
Câmaaaaaaaaaaaan, lets be having you!!
Weâre going to tear Clonmel a new one. 
Absolutely!
An old article from the Independants Eamon Sweeney that iâm sure some of ye have read. We need more articles like this one in the national press.
1 The Event
A riddle. What is this? It attracts between 30 and 40,000 fans every year, it pumps âŹ16m into the economy of the town where itâs held and it is probably the best kept secret in Irish sport. Several national newpapers donât even admit that the event is taking place and there is no coverage of it on RTE television or radio. The answer? Itâs the national coursing championships which took place last week. Here is an account of three days in Clonmel at what is the canine equivalent of the Galway Races.
2 The Gamble
The ballroom in the Hotel Minella was packed on Sunday night as a variety of coursing experts tried to give some pointers towards the likely outcome of the Derby and Oaks, the two classics which are the centrepiece of the Clonmel programme.
As is usual with these occasions the evening was highly entertaining but fairly unhelpful given that compelling cases were made for the victory prospects of about a dozen dogs in each event. There was, however, one piece of news which fairly set the place alight.
Over the previous day a Derby contestant named Razor Ashmore had been backed in all the way from 16/1 to 5/1. Five figure sums had been wagered and numerous four figure amounts. The reason? Well, the word was out that Razor Ashmore, owned by Joe OâConnor of Tarbert, had been secretly trained by Brendan Matthews for the past couple of months.
To get an idea of the awe in which Brendan Matthews is held in the coursing world, think of the way in which the characters in The Usual Suspects pronounce the name of Keyser Soze. Matthews, from Newry, is the Vincent OâBrien of coursing and also a man who has skinned the bookies on many occasions in the past. The news of his involvement, which broke the day before the meeting, seemed to put an entirely different complexion on the Derby. What can you do but follow the money when it comes in like that. I had a touch.
3 The Journey
Someone like Brendan Matthews would be hoping to win the Derby but for many of the smaller owners and trainers just qualifying a dog for the Derby or Oaks is a huge achievement. For months the trial stakes have been held at meetings all over the country. In Newcastle West, Fermoy, Milltown Malbay, Lixnaw, New Ross, Freshford and Loughrea and a myriad other venues, dogs have had to be come out on top of a field of 32, or sometimes even 64, just to make it as far as Clonmel, where they are faced with another 64-dog field. Those meetings will take place in front of much smaller crowds, in fields with a few cows looking nonchalantly over the fence. Yet one dog in the Derby, and bitch in the Oaks, eventually makes it all the way to lift the âŹ35,000 first prize. Perhaps itâs the hardest prize of all to win in Irish sport.
4 The Owners
Munster is probably the heartland of coursing and a quick glance down the starting list would suggest that Limerick, Tipperary and Cork qualify more dogs than anywhere else. Yet there are also dogs owned in Surrey, New York, Drumcondra, Belfast and most of the 32 counties. The great horse racing trainer Mark Prescott has the much fancied Multiplex in the Oaks while Vinnie Jones is one of a syndicate who own Smoking George in the Derby. Yet these luminaries have to take their place alongside The No Drink Syndicate, New Inn, The Jammy Dodger Syndicate, Charleville and the Never Get Sense Syndicate of Abbeydorney. Coursing is nothing if not a democratic game.
5 âRazor Ashmore Is Beatenâ
Says a guy beside me as the big gamble labours away from the slips in his first round tussle with Pumpactionpaddy from Enniscorthy. For well over half the buckle it looks as though the Matthews masterplan has gone askew but in the end the Newry man, and me, breathe a sigh of relief as the talking dog gets up.
Other favourites such as Siena Steel, co-owned by Brother Fabian OâDonoghue of Cork, Whitestone Rock from Kilflynn, Sandy Sea owned by the Surrey based Patsy Byrne, and Dublin owned Catunda Ashmore make it through. Atlantic Tiger, co-owned by Galway oncologist Michael Corcoran, has been the subject of a heavy gamble but loses out first time to Dungannonâs Five Score. Another fancied Galway Derby contender Crafty Sissoko is shocked by rank outsider A Noble Man. Itâs not a good time to have any connection with Liverpool FC obviously.
My Oaks money is on Valentia Singer which cruises through the first round as do Multiplex, Global Call and Portlaw dog Droopys Scotch, the ante-post favourite. The shock of the first round is the defeat of Abbeyfealeâs Pumpkin Hayes by Macroomâs Sullane Sign, though no-one I talk to reckons this means much in the bigger picture.
6 Betting
A couple of English guys in the bus travelling in to Powerstown Park are unimpressed by the fact that the identity of Razor Ashmoreâs trainer was kept secret for so long.
âSurely on the grounds of basic fairness you should know who the trainer is,â one of them grumbles. Everyone from this side of the water on the other hand admires the sang-froid with which opacity was maintained. âA right good old fashioned gamble,â is the preferred term for describing it. That difference in attitude probably says something profound about the disparate nature of our respective national characters.
The coursing meeting is a big betting event. In fact itâs almost impossible to enjoy it without splashing out a few bob given the relative repetitiveness of so many two-dog contests. People prowl the bookiesâ ring looking for some discrepancy in prices which might suggest a chance of riches. A young lad looks for long odds on a dog called Audacity in the Derby. âDo you know what you can do,â answers the bookie, âIâll give you a gun and you can shoot me while youâre at it.â No deal. Audacity goes out in the next round anyway.
Early on most people are betting on quarters, which dogs will make it into the final four. I bet four dogs to win their quarters. They all come within one race of doing so. The only one which comes through is Denmania in the Oaks which I got at 5/1. Denmania is owned by the legendary punter Harry Findlay. The thought occurs to me that there might be another big gamble going on there. These are the straws you clutch at. That and âThe Clocksâ, the times recorded on stopwatches by the serious looking gents pressed up against the rails or standing on boxes overlooking the action. To announce yourself in possession of a full set of âclocksâ is to become a very popular man indeed.
7 Day Two
When Razor Ashmore beats Whitestone Rock, the most impressive dog on the first day, in their third round clash the outcome of the Derby begins to assume a kind of inevitability, even with Siena Steel, Sandy Sea and Catunda Ashmore making it through to the last eight.
The Oaks is somewhat more chaotic, Valentia Singer is beaten by Belated Legacy from Kilmallock, Foxhill Rio from Delvin defeats Droopys Scotch but there is general agreement that nothing is as impressive as Global Call who starts the final day as favourite.
8 The Town of Clonmel
Clonmel is utterly taken over by the coursing festival. Itâs a town which has a number of great sporting pubs anyway and the Local Bar, Morans, Chawkes, Hearns, The Coachman are all packed to the rafters from afternoon to the early hours of the bar extension morning.
And what do the faithful do in between sinking pints? They look at more coursing, thatâs what. Every one of these pubs has coursing videos playing on the big screen which us punters peruse with grave concentration as though we might spot something that gives us that little edge in the battle with the bookies.
Back in my room in the Hotel Minella, thereâs more coursing videos on the TV. After these days of total immersion it comes as a surprise to see that there are other things happening out in the world. Something called âSuper Tuesdayâ for example. I check my programme but thereâs no sign of this Obama guy having a dog in either the Derby or the Oaks.
Thereâs a lot of poker being played too and not an ounce of hassle considering the collossal amount of drink going down the collective hatch. I realise that I am very fond of the coursing people. It is a world devoid of bullshit, pretension and complaint, which makes it a rare milieu in todayâs Ireland . I fall asleep and dream of Donal Ăłg Cusack and Frank Murphy coursing Kieran Mulvey up the hill.
9 Greyhound People
Itâs a very serious business getting a greyhound in top shape. In the programme there are ads for the New Maghound Bucket (magnetic field through water wrist and hock injuries and soft and hard tissues), Lazers New Hot and Cold Treatment with advanced Light Technoology (electric), Metron Ultrasound and Sayrin Lazers, Genuine Australian Ultrasound Gel, not to mention vulcanised belts and the galvanised circular clock. You can hire someone to give your dog a Zheng Gu Shui massage or sign him up for Greyhound Swimming Systems. I think I might come back as a greyhound.
10 The Case Against
A man from Glin and a man from Abbeyfeale berate me good manneredly about the lack of coverage given to coursing in the media. Some national media outlets donât cover it at all, even now that the imposition of muzzles has rendered the notion of coursing being a âcruel sportâ rather questionable. They are slightly worried that the first protest in ten years is scheduled for the final day and that the protest will attract more coverage than the meeting.
In the end the protest is so pathetic as to make the one against the English rugby team in Croke Park look like the Million Man March. Twenty odd people turn up and no-one passes any heed on them. What caught my eye was the description of the people at the meeting by one of the protest organisers as, âthe cloth cap brigadeâ. There, I feel, you have the essence of the anti-coursing movement in all its snobbish fatuity. This isnât about hares, itâs about the problem the antis have against the people involved in the sport. And who are the people involved in the sport? Solid hard working people from all over the island of Ireland, the kind of people who donât ring Liveline, write letters to the newspapers or engage in disputes about the sport they love.
The argument these days is that the hares are frightened by being chased by dogs. Itâs an argument which suggests the antis believe a hare in the wild lives a stress free life with his feet up drinking wine and watching arthouse cinema. Better a cloth cap than a wooly mind anyday.
11 The Finals
Oaks short odds favourite Global Call meets her come-uppance against upset specialist Sullane Sign who qualifies to meet Belated Legacy in the final. Denmania loses by three lengths to Belated Legacy in the semi-final, there will be no big Findlay coup in the Oaks (and no small Sweeney one.) At the start of the meeting you could have had Sullane at 40/1 and Legacy at 66/1. Sullane Sign takes it.
Entering the final day the two Derby dogs with the best clocks are Sandy Sea and Razor Ashmore. They duly make the final and yours truly ponders the possibility of extricating a profit right at the death. Razor Ashmore wins by five lengths going away. The bookie who said, rather gloomily to me on Monday morning, âThose Northern boys donât put on money like that for nothing,â is proved right.
Matthews follows up by winning the Champion Stakes, a race he dominates so comprehensively that he has both dogs in the final. Iâm telling you, Keyser Soze.
12 Requiem
I am biased in favour of the people involved in coursing because of a family connection with the greyhound world. An uncle of mine, PĂĄdraig, is involved with the Galway Greyhound track and sits on Bord na gCon and another uncle of mine, Ned Feeney, lived and breathed greyhounds for many years.
Since I was a kid Iâve been travelling to Galway to see Nedâs dogs in action. He was one of those small time guys who didnât win much but Iâm not sure the winning was the point for him anyway. He worked hard all his life as a plasterer, in London, at home in Spiddal and for many years in Boston before coming home to retire. Or to retire from plastering anyway, because most of his day was taken up with feeding his small crew of dogs, with walking them, with worrying about them or sometimes just going up the boreen to talk to them.
I spoke to him on Monday night from Clonmel, he wondered how Galwaymen Brian Divilly and Gerry Holianâs dogs were going and he was intrigued by the news of Brendan Matthewsâ gamble. I never visited Spiddal without having long, long conversations with him about sport, he was a man who had an interest in every sport, he followed the White Sox and the Celtics while he was in Boston, heâd recently developed a great grĂĄ for Roy Keaneâs Sunderland, heâd been involved for years in the Michael Breathnachs GAA Club (weâd gone together to the game a couple of years back when they finally went senior), he wasnât afraid to have a decent bet on the horses and idolised the great bookie-scourging punters.
Above all, though, greyhound racing was the love of his life. He was a prime example of the kind of decent country people involved in the dog world.
Sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Ned Feeney died peacefully in his sleep. That I do the job I do now probably has a lot to do with the conversations we had about sport ever since I can remember. I owe him a lot. Most of you who love sport had an Uncle Ned who encouraged that interest.
Farewell old soldier.
SS, has 3 of the top 5 dogs in the betting in the sweep.
Fuck Boylesports, they wont lay them prices anyway.
Derby -> http://www.betbrowne.com/page001.html
Oaks -> http://www.betbrowne.com/page_1234562145148.html
Oaks:
Its all about the Oask this year, as far as the talk has been concerned. Since the seaon has started, itâs the bitches that have caught the eye.
First up was Gadget Girl, with many judges putting her up as the fastest bitch they had ever seen, stop press, give he the Oaks now, and that was only October. She absolutely trounced all the bitches in Castleisland. Nothing got within 6 lengths of the daughter of Tango Time. Trained by the maestro in Newry, she was the bench mark for all the ladies. Her clocks compared favourably with Claas Attraction, Beautiful Chrissy in the all-age, no messing, 5/1.
But as the season wore on we saw another female flying machine come to light. Winning her trialstake in Lixnaw in equally impressive style, the Bexhill Eoin daughter of Call Biddy, Call Her Now, looked the part. She wont onto the much lauded Corn na FĂŠile in Abbeyfeale and galloped all over the dog pups to claim the coveted prize, and get the chance to run in Clonmel for Berkie Browneâs âŹ10, 000 bonus.
Both these bitches are drawn in the first quarter of the Oaks, and at 5/1 Gadget, and 6/1 Call Her, they should progress to meet on Wednesday morning for a place in the semi-final. They wont have it simple though, with Leigh Countess, Cisco Town and Somebody Told Me all possessing the gears to trouble these bitches on Monday and Tuesday.
From the second quarter, Mollys Leader represents value, winnin her TS is nice style in Westmeath, she will trouble a few and could make Wednesday morning. But at that stage I expect the Skellig bitches to come to the fore, both Side and Mania have pace to burn and have Clonmel dams, with Side out of the great Rith Gan Gaisce, and Mania out of Harry Findlays Denmania who ran the hill so well. I expect them to meet on Wednesday morning, and my money will go on Mania⌠OiOi !
The third quarter is wide open. In my eyes the notables are Windfarm Swift, formally Flagfield Swift, a late TS winner in Ballymena, this daughter of Reekie Daisy has the pace to troube a few early on could just stay going to put pay to Brendan Matthews Ballyragget winner Wakey Wakey on Wednesday morning. The bottom half of this is only about one bitch for me though. OâDriscolls Skellig Babe, she was super in Woodsgift winning her TS in the snow, and she is the winner of this quarter for me.
Finally to quarter 4, a tough one again. Many shrewd judges will put there money on Omera to win this quarter. Not this one though. Loud Music trained by Kevin Barry in Ballydoyle, has not put a paw wrong this year. She was super in Knockgraffon, only to be withdrawn injured, but came back and won in style in Borrisleigh. The quarter is tough though, Lyrics was the early oaks fav after her exploits in the regional, and Chang Mia was class in Kilimer, and Taka Dawn ran away from all comers in Galway and Oran.
But anyway, neck on the line time. My final four bitches standing this year are. Call Her Now, Skellig Mania, Skellig Babe and Loud Music, with the Oaks staying on South Tipperary with Loud Music the victor.
Somebody else can do the Derby⌠objectively, as I can only see one winner !
Nice preview HB.
I assume youâll be having a nice piece of the 33âs (if you havenât already)
Will hold fire until Monday.
You should get a decent price on the quarters too youâd imagine.
There is severe frost forecast for the weekend. :unsure:
FAO 2RE:
Will we stay in Clonmel on the Monday night as well??? I see the final of the unraced is on at the track that night as well as numerous opensâŚ
Let me consult my accountant in the morning. Alpha Ridge may swing the decision as well.
I was looking at some preview video there. I think I may throw my âŹ5 on Why Tanyard Ash @ 33/1.
Wait till we listen to some of the experts and Monday morning we will attack the ring.
I have a gut feeling, like I did with that good bitch at the derby, she made the consolation. Iâll hold tough, although I wonât remember a thing from Sunday night Iâd say.